Cameron Richardson

Jane Lynch

Studio

Twentieth Century Fox

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Reviewed byKerry Bennett

Kids today may have thousands of songs downloaded on their MP3s but the demise of the record means they'll never experience the amusement of playing a long play album at a higher speed. (Okay, so I was easily entertained as a child.)

However, songwriter Ross Bagdasarian who used the stage name Dave Seville, found a way to do more than amuse himself with the high pitched voices that resulted from the speed infraction. In 1958, he recorded a song for Liberty Records in which he did the voices of three singing chipmunks named Simon, Theodore and Alvin. Thus was born the musical trio who went from a singing career to cartoon characters. Now the threesome is making their way on to the big screen.

In this Alvin and the Chipmunks, the little forest creatures find themselves in the middle of the city after their tree house is cut down and hauled into town for the Christmas season. Hitching a ride in a basket of pastries, they make their way into the condo of Dave Seville (Jason Lee), a struggling songwriter who has just had his latest project slammed by Ian (David Cross), an ambitious record executive.

Alvin (voice by Justin Long), Theodore (voice by Jesse McCartney) and Simon (voice by Matthew Gray Gubler) are anything but housetrained and before long they've left the apartment in shambles. Still Dave is willing to temporarily forgive them when he discovers their melodious abilities---a talent that Ian is equally interested in exploiting.

Skyrocketing up the musical charts, the threesome are hauling in buckets of money, but Dave is planning for the future instead of letting his "boys" enjoy the perks of their newfound status. "Uncle" Ian on the other hand is willing to indulge the tracksuit wearing pop stars in the excesses of fame, and soon convinces them to move in with him.

Yet before long, even huge jolts of java can't keep the chipmunks performing at hyper speed that Ian demands. And like many celebrities today, these entertainers need some intervention to get them off the fast track for some much-needed rest and relaxation.

For the most part, the CGI animation works well in the movie, avoiding the distracting reality that the live-action actors have spent most of their time talking to thin air. The script, while containing some cartoon violence and the risky practice of inhaling helium, manages to stay away from a proliferation of potty jokes and sexual innuendos that bogs down many children's films.

Harmonizing their way from one catchy tune to the next, Alvin, Theodore and Simon are ready to entertain a whole new generation of music lovers who will no doubt be looking for a download.

Discussion Ideas After The Movie

Teaching ideas and topics to discuss about Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Why is Dave reluctant to make a commitment? How does he feel about referring to the chipmunks as family rather than friends?

How does the lifestyle of the rich and spoiled affect Alvin and his buddies? Are there drawbacks to being famous?

Canadian Movie Ratings

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Canadian Home Video Rating: G

Watch @ Home

Details on home video releases of Alvin and the Chipmunks...

Alvin and the Chipmunks releases as single flipper disc, offering the movie in both full screen (1.31:1 aspect ratio) and widescreen (1.85:1 aspect ratio) formats. Bonus materials include the featurettes: Chip-Chip-Hooray!, Chipmunk History and Hitting the Harmony. Audio tracks are available in 5.1 Dolby Surround (English) and Dolby Surround (Spanish and French), with subtitles in English and Spanish.

The Alvin and the Chipmunks: Special Edition 2-Disc DVD

If your little chipmunks want more, they can sink their teeth into the 2-Disc Special Edition, which offers the movie in a widescreen format (1:85.1 aspect ratio) with the following special features: Digital Copy Download, Behind the Nuts Munkumentary, Chip-Chip-Hooray!, Chipmunk History and Hitting the Harmony, plus the music video Witch Doctor and two iTunes¨ music downloads (Get MunkÕd and Get You GoinÕ). Audio tracks are available in 5.1 Dolby Surround (English) and Dolby Surround (Spanish and French), with subtitles in English and Spanish.

The Alvin and the Chipmunks: Blu-ray Disc

The Alvin and the Chipmunks also releases on Blu-ray in a widescreen format (25GB single-layer disc authored in AVC—MPEG 4 compression). Other extras to go nuts over are: Digital Copy Download, Chip-Chip-Hooray!, Chipmunk History, Hitting the Harmony and several high-definition trailers. Audio tracks are available in 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio (English) and 5.1 Dolby Digital (Spanish and French), with subtitles in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and French.

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